Classic panoramic X-ray machines have an X-ray source and a panorama cartridge, which can be pivoted together around an axis, which is usually vertical. Between the X-ray source and the panorama cartridge, an object to be investigated, e.g. a patient's jaw, is positioned.
A film holder, which is arranged in the cartridge, is movably arranged in the cartridge behind a recording slit, and is moved past the recording slit depending on the angle of rotation of the arm which joins the X-ray gun and panorama cartridge.
In this way, a panoramic image of the object, resulting from individual slit images being joined one behind another, is obtained on the film.
For various reasons, recording X-ray images with sensors which provide electrical signals is increasingly preferred to generating them with classic silver films. In this way the films, which contain silver, are not needed, the images can be processed electronically, and archiving the recordings is also simplified.
Panoramic X-ray machines are relatively expensive devices with a high expected lifetime.
There is therefore interest in, on the one hand, being able to continue to use the expensive equipment which already exists, and on the other hand, being able to use the advantages of modern digital image processing.
Retrofit kits for panoramic machines with film cartridges, a CCD line array being fixed to the cartridge, have already been offered on the market. However, the cable looms of the sensor are connected to the panoramic X-ray machine. Legally, this must be classified as an intervention in the machine, so that according to the law on medical products, the machine must be completely re-accepted after the conversion. For this purpose, among other things, a safety test is required, and this makes it necessary to transport the machine back to the manufacturer. Further tests are also necessary there. The effort for such a retrofit is therefore high, and the retrofit is expensive. Another reason for this is that a CCD sensor which is arranged on the cartridge must be guided past multiple mechanical pivotal points, and these can only be produced in small numbers, since the relevant CCD sensors are always manufacturer-specific and many competitors with different machines divide the market.
Typically, panorama cartridges according to DIN 6832, Part 1 have a low thickness of about 15 mm with external dimensions of about 160×330 mm (nominal size of cartridge 13×30 cm) or 180×330 (nominal size 15×30 cm).
The present invention is directed to resolving these and other matters.